The Penalty Box Post
Sunday, April 2nd
Note: This was sent out to the email list of PPC members on April 2nd, but was posted to our website on April 12th due to webmaster unavailability.
Heise, Zumwinkle, Laitenen named to 2022-23 All-USCHO Teams
We send congratulations to 2022-2023 Gopher Women's Hockey players Taylor Heise, Grace Zumwinkle, and Nelli Laitinen, who were named to All-USCHO Teams by U.S. College Hockey Online this past Friday.
Heise earned the second recognition of her collegiate career as a member of the All-USCHO First Team. Zumwinkle was honored for a second time as a Second Team forward. Laitinen was named to the Rookie Team.
USCHO also named their top award winners for the 2022-2023 season. Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award winner Sophie Jaques from Ohio State was additionally honored as USCHO Player of the Year, Penn State's Tessa Janecke and Wisconsin's Caroline Harvey were named Co-Rookies of the Year, and St. Cloud State's Brian Idalski earned the honor as Coach of the Year.
2023 IIHF Women's World Championship
Wednesday, April 5 through Sunday, April 16
CAA Centre, Brampton, Ontario, Canada
8 Gophers – including 5 for Team USA – participating in the tournament
Eight (8) representatives of the Minnesota Women's Hockey program are headed to the upcoming 2023 International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) Women's World Championship, being held at the CAA Centre in Brampton, Ontario, Canada starting this Wednesday, April 5, and continuing through Sunday, April 16. The tournament returns to its regular April timing for the first time since 2019 after being cancelled in 2020 and held in August in 2021 & 2022.
Taylor Heise, Amanda Kessel, Abbey Murphy, Kelly Pannek, and Lee Stecklein were named to Team USA's roster yesterday following completion of last week's USA Hockey's camp in Blaine. They will be joined in Brampton by Finland's Nelli Laitinen, Hungary's Emma Kreisz, and Sweden's Josefin Bouveng.
Tournament preview – The host Canadians enter the tournament as two-time defending champions after having claimed gold in 2021 & 2022, along with winning the 2022 Olympic gold medal in between. The Americans look to get back on top after last winning the 2019 tournament. They are joined by Switzerland, Czechia, and Japan in Group A. Under the current tournament format, all five teams automatically qualify for the elimination round.
While still #3 in the world rankings, Finland finds themselves in Group B this year after a sixth-place result at the 2022 tournament. They are joined by Sweden, Hungary, Germany, and newly-promoted France. The top three teams in the group after the preliminary round will advance to elimination round, while the last-place team will be relegated to Division 1 Group A for 2024.
Finland will play in the tournament's opening game on Wednesday, April 5, at 11 a.m. ET / 10 a.m. CT against France, the U.S. will take on Japan in their first game that afternoon at 3 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. CT, and Canada will open its title defense at 7 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. CT against Switzerland. Sweden and Hungary will play their first games on Thursday, April 6; the Swedes will take on Germany in the first game of the day, while the Hungarians will face the French in the evening matchup. The full schedule of games can be found here, and all U.S. and Canada games will be broadcast live on NHL Network south of the border.
Pre-tournament exibitions –
Japan 4, Hungary 3, shootout (Friday)– Emma Kreisz recorded an assist on a power-play goal by veteran Fanni Gasparics to put Hungary up 3-2 in their game against Japan on Friday, but Ayaka Hitosato scored with 1:43 remaining in regulation to knot the score at 3-3. After a scoreless overtime, Kohane Sato netted the winning shootout goal for the Japanese victory.
Switzerland 2, Germany 0 (Friday) – Alina Marty & Sinja Leemann scored for the Swiss, and Andrea Brändli stopped all 16 shots she faced for the shutout. Germany's Sandra Abstreiter made 29 saves.
Canada 3, Finland 1 (last night) – Brianne Jenner recorded the game's opening goal plus an assist, and Emily Clark & Marie-Philip Poulin also scored for the Canadians. Emilia Vesa lit the lamp for Finland.
Three more games are scheduled for today (Sunday, 4/2) as Sweden faces Switzerland, France takes on Japan, and Germany plays Hungary.
Heise, Potomak recognized by the IIHF – Gopher Women's Hockey alumnae Taylor Heise and Sarah Potomak were recognized by the IIHF in pre-tournament coverage, being named as two of the Top 10 Stickhandlers in Women's Hockey. Congratulations, Taylor & Sarah!!
PPC Board of Directors meeting – April 12 at 7:00 p.m.
The first meeting of the Power Play Club Board of Directors in preparation for the 2023-2024 Gopher Women's Hockey season is scheduled for Wednesday, April 12, at 7:00 p.m. This will be an online meeting held over Zoom. Board meetings are open to all enrolled club members, and 2022-2023 membership will apply during the off-season; if you wish to attend, please contact club president Bill Johnson at president@powerplayclub.org.
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